Thursday, April 25, 2013

Ch-ch-ch-changes

This past Sunday was Youth Sunday at our church, a day when the youth lead all aspects of worship, from the music...

...to communion...

...to preaching...

Our kids did a stellar job bringing a message of joy and hope and we are so proud of them! But it was with a bit of a heavy heart that we left church that day.

This was our last Youth Sunday with our kids...

This change has been in the works for a few months and over the last several weeks we have told the folks that we wanted to hear it in person, first our kids, then our church and now everyone else. We are just full of announcements these days.

On with it, Anna.

Trent has been accepted to Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor and will begin pursuing his Master of Divinity degree this August. While the specific logistics of this step have only been in the making for a few months, the experiences leading up to this part of Trent's calling as a minister have been in the works for years. If you told us a few years ago that we would be in this spot right now, with Trent going back to school of his own free will and choosing, we would have probably laughed at you. And yet, here we are. We are trusting, seeking and answering.

As part of this big change, something had to give. Trent already works two part-time jobs that add up to about one and a half full time jobs. There was no way to add seminary on top of that. After much prayer and seeking of advise from mentors, we have made the decision for Trent to leave his youth minister position at our church at the end of July. It was with a heavy heart and tears on both our faces that we told our kids we were leaving, and even now it saddens me as I'm writing this.

For three years, these kids have been our life. They have caused us joy and caused us worry. They have made us proud and made us give some advice on how to do things better. They have woken us up with late night text messages and left happy chalkboard notes in the youth room. They have shone love to others as equals who many people would look down upon. They have worked so, so hard on mission trips and left a lasting effect on those they helped. They love each other. They love us. Good golly are we going to miss them. But we are sticking with them through July and then after that, we are still going to be in town. We'll still be able to see them sometimes and check in, maybe catch a baseball game or school play here and there. We hope we can be an example to them of following God's call for our life, even when part of it is hard.

I also don't want to leave out the fact that we are excited. Kind of freaked out, but also excited. This is the start of a new season in our lives, with a lot of unknowns, but life is an adventure, remember? We are excited to see what lies ahead and we are so, so thankful for the time we have gotten to spend with these wonderful youth.